Browsing by Author "Curate, Francisco"
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- Assigned sex estimation with the clavicle and scapula: A study in a Portuguese reference samplePublication . Curate, Francisco; Alves, Inês; Rodrigues, Tomás; Garcia, SusanaThe estimation of biological sex is a critical step in the assessment of the biological profile of an anonymous skeletonized individual. In certain recovery circumstances, the most dimorphic skeletal areas, such as the pelvis, are absent or fragmented; in that case, other bones of the skeleton, including the clavicle and scapula, can be used to predict sex. The purpose of this research is to generate new models for the estimation of sex with clavicular and scapular measurements using a study-sample of 129 individuals with clavicle (65 males and 64 females) and 112 individuals with scapula (50 males and 62 females) from the Lisbon Identified Skeletal Collection (Portugal). A decision tree classifier (C4.5) and logistic regression (LR) were employed to create univariable and multivariable sex prediction models. Accuracy under cross-validation of the classification models is high (up to 93.8%), with minimal bias (<5%), particularly in the multivariable models. The proposed LR models facilitate the probabilistic estimation of biological sex, accounting for the significant overlap in the expression of sexual dimorphism.
- Bioarqueologia de uma amostra esquelética islâmica proveniente de Carnide (Lisboa)Publication . Curate, Francisco; Pereira, André; Monteiro, MárioNo âmbito do acompanhamento arqueológico dos trabalhos de alteração e ampliação dos imóveis situados entre a Rua Maria Brown e a Rua da Fonte, concelho de Lisboa, freguesia de Carnide, foram recuperados os restos esqueléticos de sete indivíduos (cinco não adultos e dois adultos [sexo feminino: 1; sexo masculino: 1]). A análise da antropologia funerária indica que a amostra estudada se situa cronologicamente em período islâmico. As análises paleodemográfica e paleopatológica, embora limitadas pelo tamanho amostral, sugerem que pelo menos alguns dos indivíduos estudados sofreram de stress fisiológico sistémico. Foram observados casos de hipoplasia do esmalte dentário (N=2), hiperostose porótica (N=1) e cribra orbitalia (N=1), bem como uma infecção não específica – osteomielite. No seu todo, os dados bioarqueológicos deste pequeno grupo apontam para condições socioeconómicas e sanitárias deficitárias.
- Massa óssea cortical e fraturas de fragilidade na Coleção de Esqueletos Identificados do séc. XXIPublication . Perinha, Andreia; Nogueira, Catarina; Umbelino, Cláudia; Silva, Ana Maria; Cunha, Eugénia; Curate, FranciscoA osteoporose é uma patologia metabólica óssea com maior incidência nas mulheres pós-menopáusicas e nas camadas mais idosas das populações atuais. Caracteriza-se pelo decréscimo da massa e da resistência ósseas, com aumento subsequente do risco de fratura. No presente trabalho, propõe-se, como objetivo principal, a compreensão dos padrões epidemiológicos da perda de massa óssea cortical numa amostra de indivíduos pertencente à Coleção de Esqueletos Identificados do século XXI (CEI/XXI) e da sua relação com as fraturas de fragilidade. Foram analisados 136 indivíduos {f=68;m= 68} pertencentes à CEI/XXI. Para a avaliação da perda de massa óssea procedeu-se à análise radiogramétrica do 2.º metacárpico. Verificou-se também a presença/ausência de fraturas de fragilidade (anca, úmero proximal, rádio distal e corpo vertebral). Os resultados obtidos sugerem que a perda de massa óssea está intimamente relacionada com o envelhecimento, sobretudo no sexo feminino. As fraturas de fragilidade são mais comuns nos indivíduos femininos e a idade aparenta ser um fator de risco para a sua ocorrência, contrariamente ao que acontece nos indivíduos masculinos.
- Metacarpal cortical bone loss and osteoporotic fractures in the Coimbra Identified Skeletal CollectionPublication . Curate, Francisco; Perinha, Andreia; Silva, Ana Maria; Cunha, Eugénia; Umbelino, Cláudia; Nogueira, CatarinaThere has been considerable progress in recent years in our understanding of the patterns of cortical bone loss in the second metacarpal in archeological skeletal samples. Nevertheless, cortical data from reference skeletal collections are insufficient, and the possible connection of metacarpal cortical parameters with osteoporotic fractures has not been thoroughly addressed. As such, this article aims to identify and explain sex‐specific and age‐associated metacarpal cortical bone loss in a large sample (N = 302; females: 154/males: 148) from the Coimbra Identified Skeletal Collection. Another objective is to evaluate the association of cortical and demographic features with osteoporotic fractures. Age‐related endocortical bone loss is significant in women but not evident in men. Periosteal accretion of the bone is absent in both sexes. Overall, there is a net loss of the cortical bone in women, whereas cortical bone strength seems to be preserved in men. The prevalence of osteoporotic fractures is similar in both sexes, with age at death significantly influencing the probability of exhibiting a fracture. Metacarpal cortical index does not seem to be an independent risk factor for osteoporotic fractures in this sample.
- Sex assessment with the radius in Portuguese skeletal populations (late 19th – early to mid 20th centuries)Publication . Curate, Francisco; Mestre, Fernando; Garcia, Susana J.The assessment of sex is of immense relevance in the analysis of human skeletal remains, as other parameters of the biological profile are usually sex-specific (e.g., age at death or stature). The radius can be used to estimate sex when more dimorphic bones are not available or in the case of incomplete and fragmentary remains. Ten radius measurements collected in a sample of 364 individuals (166 females and 198 males) from the Coimbra Identified Skeletal Collection (late 19th - early 20th centuries) were employed to generate univariable and multivariable models for sex estimation. All models were evaluated with a 10-fold cross-validation method and an independent holdout sample from the Luís Lopes Collection (late 19th - mid 20th centuries) encompassing 50 individuals (25 females and 25 males). Univariable models show an accuracy ranging from 77.7% to 89.8% (cross-validation), and from 70% to 86% (test sample), while accuracy in the multivariable models varies from 88.7% to 93.4% (cross-validation), and 84.0% to 90.0% (test sample). Results suggest that measurements of the radius are useful to develop standard guidelines for sex estimation of anonymous skeletal remains.
- Sex determination from the femur in Portuguese populations with classical and machine-learning classifiersPublication . Curate, Francisco; Umbelino, Cláudia; Perinha, A.; Nogueira, C.; Silva, Ana Maria; Cunha, EugéniaThe assessment of sex is of paramount importance in the establishment of the biological profile of a skeletal individual. Femoral relevance for sex estimation is indisputable, particularly when other exceedingly dimorphic skeletal regions are missing. As such, this study intended to generate population-specific osteometric models for the estimation of sex with the femur and to compare the accuracy of the models obtained through classical and machine-learning classifiers. A set of 15 standard femoral measurements was acquired in a training sample (100 females; 100 males) from the Coimbra Identified Skeletal Collection (University of Coimbra, Portugal) and models for sex classification were produced with logistic regression (LR), linear discriminant analysis (LDA), support vector machines (SVM), and reduce error pruning trees (REPTree). Under cross-validation, univariable sectioning points generated with REPTree correctly estimated sex in 60.0-87.5% of cases (systematic error ranging from 0.0 to 37.0%), while multivariable models correctly classified sex in 84.0-92.5% of cases (bias from 0.0 to 7.0%). All models were assessed in a holdout sample (24 females; 34 males) from the 21st Century Identified Skeletal Collection (University of Coimbra, Portugal), with an allocation accuracy ranging from 56.9 to 86.2% (bias from 4.4 to 67.0%) in the univariable models, and from 84.5 to 89.7% (bias from 3.7 to 23.3%) in the multivariable models. This study makes available a detailed description of sexual dimorphism in femoral linear dimensions in two Portuguese identified skeletal samples, emphasizing the relevance of the femur for the estimation of sex in skeletal remains in diverse conditions of completeness and preservation.
- The use and abuse of cinnabar in Late Neolithic and Copper Age IberiaPublication . Emslie, Steven D.; Silva, Ana Maria; Valera, António; Vijande Vila, Eduardo; Melo, Linda; Curate, Francisco; Fidalgo, Daniel; Inácio, Nuno; Molina Moreno, María; Cambra‐Moo, Oscar; González Martín, Armando; Barroso‐Bermejo, Rosa; Montero Artús, Raquel; García Sanjuán, LeonardoIn this study, total mercury (THg) was analyzed in archaeological human bone from 23 sites dating to between the Middle Neolithic and the Antiquity. A total of 370 individuals from individual or collective burials was sampled, mostly using cortical bone from the humerus. These individuals were recovered from over 50 different funerary structures ranging from tholoi, pits, caves, and hypogea. Although cinnabar (HgS) is a likely cause of mercury poisoning and toxicity for people exposed to this mineral from mining or use as a paint or pigment, not all sites investigated here had cinnabar associated with the burials or other excavated areas. We found unusual levels of THg in many of the sampled individuals that we assume were caused by exposure to cinnabar in life, and not by diagenetic processes or other exposures to mercury such as through diet, which would only cause negligible accumulation of THg in bone. Our data, based on the largest sampling ever undertaken on contamination of human bone through archaeological evidence, provide a baseline for additional research on cinnabar and its use in Prehistory. Moderate to high levels of THg in human bone are mainly associated with societies dating from the second half of the 4th to late 3rd millennia B.C. (Late Neolithic to Middle Chalcolithic) in southern Iberia. By the Late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age, the use of cinnabar decreased significantly and became minimal or absent. The use and abuse of cinnabar appears to have been pervasive throughout the above-mentioned period and particularly between c. 2900–2300 B.C. This occurred in connection with the high symbolic and probably sacred value of the substance, which was sought after, traded, and extensively used in a variety of rituals and social practices.